This invention is generally directed to a novel poultry drinker that forces a bird's beak open during activation, thereby increasing water consumption by the bird by causing water to flow directly into the bird's open beak. The present invention is also directed to a novel combination of a poultry drinker and a poultry feeder.
There have been numerous designs for drinkers for supplying water to poultry. One such design provides drinkers having a straight solid pin which is connected to a valve system in the drinker. The drinker is attached to a supply pipe. When a bird contacts the solid pin, the pin is moved upwardly and the valve system is opened. This allows water to flow from the supply pipe, through the valve system and along the exterior surfaces of the solid pin. It has been found that poultry, and especially turkeys, more commonly bite at the pin to activate the drinker rather than activating the drinker by pecking or otherwise pushing up on the pin. While the solid pin design can provide sufficient water flow, because the bird bites at the pin, the beak closes around the pin and intersects the water stream. This often causes the water to run down the pin, down the outside of the beak and onto the exterior of the bird's beak, instead of into the bird's mouth. This wastes water and creates wetness in the poultry house requiring the house to be cleaned frequently and otherwise results in unsanitary and unsuitable conditions. Bacterial growth and infection within the house can devastate commercial productivity.
Another disadvantage of prior art drinkers that cause excessive amounts of dispensed water not to be consumed by the poultry and spill or leak away from the drinkers is that the drinkers are required to be maintained in a separate position in the poultry house, away from any feeders located therein. Therefore, because of the distances between the drinkers and feeders, the poultry tend to wander around the poultry house, thereby not maximizing the time spent drinking or feeding.
The present invention is intended to provide a novel drinker that substantially eliminates these problems and presents several advantages over the prior art which will become apparent upon a reading of the specification when examined in combination with a study of the drawings.